Doña Ana County awarded $2 million by federal government to improve roads for extreme weather

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded Doña Ana County a 2 million dollar grant that's intended to help the county make its roads "more prepared" for weather-related events.

The $2 million is part of more than $830 million in grants awarded by the Biden-Harris administration to "make transportation infrastructure more resilient to climate change."

In news release, the county says the grant will fund a study to find what short-term activities can be implemented in the next 3 to 5 years, as well as look at longer-term projects.

"This funding will help the County create a roads master plan which will guide us in creating roads with better connectivity," said County Engineer Mo Moabed in the news release.

He added that the "new system will identify existing roads and propose new roads, to help provide better access to and from all communities in the county, in case of evacuation, emergency response and for increased economic opportunities."

The county recalled in the news release three, rare flooding events since 2006 that damaged infrastructure, including the one that severely affected the Village of Hatch.

They say the study "will help [to] develop a plan to make roads more passable during severe weather events and improve infrastructure in communities with single-entry access."